Late strikes from Luka Modric and Jude Bellingham earned 10-man Real Madrid a 2-1 comeback win at relegation-threatened Valencia on Friday as the visitors moved top of La Liga.
Real had to fight back after Hugo Duro put Valencia ahead in the 27th minute by tapping into an open goal after Thibaut Courtois had blocked Javi Guerra’s first close-range effort.
Real pushed hard for an equaliser, but Bellingham missed a golden chance to score with a poor penalty that hit a post after Enzo Barrenechea’s foul on Kylian Mbappé in the 55th minute.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side were then reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when Vinícius Júnior was shown a straight red card for slapping the Valencia goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.
But the second-half substitute Modric finally brought the visitors level when he beat Dimitrievski with a low shot off Bellingham’s through ball five minutes from time.
The England midfielder then sealed the win by scoring five minutes into stoppage time, to leave Real Madrid top of the table with 43 points, two ahead of Atlético Madrid, who have a game in hand. Valencia are second from bottom on goal difference.
Ancelotti was full of praise for his side’s comeback but criticised their first-half performance, stating his team cannot show “two sides“.
“It’s difficult to explain how bad we were in the first half and how good we were in the second, and with a man down,” Ancelotti said.
“We deserved three points, but we can’t show these two sides. Tremendously bad in the first half, tremendously good in the second with 10 men.“
While Ancelotti praised Bellingham for his redemption, he also expressed concern that his side have missed three of their last four penalties, including two from Mbappé.
“It bothers me that we missed three penalties, I think I have to take responsibility for choosing who is going to take the penalty,” he said.
“Bellingham didn’t lose faith after missing the penalty, it gave him extra motivation. His last 30 minutes can only be done by him. He made an extraordinary effort.“
The Italian coach added that the club will appeal Vinícius’s red card.
“We think it wasn’t a red card … but the team reacted to this difficulty. We are going to appeal, I don’t know if they will accept it,” Ancelotti said.
